The Imperial Dreadnought, HMS Equalizer.

The room that was set aside for the strange green orb is very secure, lined in ceramic plates, with a heavy door. There's enough furnishing here to provide places to work, read, and even sleep, as it's been discovered that even with the strange, double-fist-sized globe supposedly dormant, wood has a strange habit of growing leaves when left in proximity too long.

Specifically, there's a bed for Anisa, around whom the orb seems "calmer", for lack of a better word. She's not here at the moment, but Gibson is, poring over a book bound with steel covers.

Lilac knocks at the door. "Hello, is anyone inside?" she asks hesitantly. "If no one's here, or you're busy, I can go!" She realizes a bit too late how odd her words sound, but she's worried. She came to see Gibson – but can she really face him?

The big black Lapi looks up, and pockets a pair of reading glasses that had been perched on his nose. "Hm? Oh, Lilac! No, not at all. C'mon in." His ears angle forward curiously, his boyish face more serious than usual. Nearby is a stone pedestal, and there rests the weird green sphere. Mother. Deceptively simple-looking and inert.

After slipping inside, Lilac secures the door and then looks at Gibson. Given how tall he is, even sitting he can look her roughly eye to eye. She fiddles with her hands, nervously. "Well, um. Hi." She gives the buck an unsteady smile, and asks, "D-do you mind if I stay here for a while? I wanted to talk about the orb, and um, other things."

"Not at all," says the black Lapi. He sets the book down, laying a small ceramic Imperial knife across it to mark his spot. "I'd ask what's on your mind, but… I know it's too big a question. We've all been through a lot, huh? You and Anisa and Umeko more than anyone else." He sighs. "I'm still kicking myself for not being there when the chips really were down."

"We can't do it all, Gibson. We really can't. If I learned anything from being down there, it's that sometimes the best you can do has to be enough, even if you don't succeed like you wanted," Lilac says. She walks over and takes a seat across from the man, taking a moment to frown at the oddly tranquil orb. "It's hard for me to believe that is the center of all this, all they wanted. It's so small, and even innocent looking, just sitting there. But it was its heart. The heart of the Temple of Being. I … ," she turns back to look at the man, recalling her time in the Temple depths and placing the memorial; it helps clear her head, somehow. "I never told you what happened to me, did I? I, well, I … I couldn't say it. Not to you. I'm weird and stained enough as it is, I couldn't stand the idea of you knowing. Of burdening you. But, after talking to the others, I think I should tell you. You can decide for yourself, how you think of me. But whatever happens, I want us to still be friends." She gives the man a little smile.

"I do think it made the Temple. Did the Temple need it to live? I'm not sure. I don't know that it should make you feel any better, but taking this thing… " Gibson eyes the green globe uneasily, pausing, then restarting. "We think it came out of the Desolate Band, it was the green light we saw arriving. Moved by itself, came when the Temple was hurt. Some of what's gone on in the Band makes sense now. What it came to do, we can only speculate. From what Anisa described, it… I guess it came to see how the Temple… ended. I guess you could say it was its heart in that it grew from it, but I think the Temple grew for itself. So taking this thing didn't hurt it, at least. I think." He sighs, and reaches out to Lilac to put a hand on her arm. "You don't have to worry about burdening me, at least. I wish I could help with what's happened to everybody, but at the very least I can listen and talk."

Lilac turns and regards the orb as Gibson as he speaks, and his words hearten her some. The Temple began to die before the Mother arrived, that's right. Then it was Hakuu, Beshret, Vandringer and that mage! Hakuu and Beshret are dead – good riddens! – but Vandringer and that mage still live. The mage … The woman bites her lip, and sighs rather mysteriously, to Gibson's eyes, … Umeko will handle him, and that Collegia of his. Vandringer … Him, I'll continue to hunt. She nods a little, looking like she nods to Gibson, for all appearances. Turning back, she tells him, "There's more between the Temple of Being and I than I've said. Um, you should hear it all, I think. You see, I killed Dragonfly, did I ever tell you that?"

The black rabbit nods, grimacing. "Vandringar'll get his, I'm sure. There's a line to go after him a mile long. You'll have to get in it behind my sis." Gibson listens some more, and one of his ears lops over. "Er… but she was just here five minutes ago, we were going over the tome."

Her own ears flattening, Lilac shakes her head. "No, she was dead. Very dead." The woman lowers her gaze, fiddling with her hands as she talks, not quite able to look Gibson in the eyes while she relates what happened. "You see, I, um, well, I thought she was a mage. A necromancer, even. She was all alone in a room full of skulls that moved. I thought if I got her, I could be like Kinny, could help Kinny and everyone. I snuck up on her, and I bit her neck, and, and … she died. Right there, between my teeth. I picked up her book and left. Um, this was all back when I was alone at the camp site, by the way." She takes a deep breath, exhaling before continuing. "I didn't realize my mistake until I read her journal. I've never felt worse in my life."

"Oh." says Gibson, looking unsure what to make of this. The other ear lops over and the first one comes back up. "But how… "

Lilac glances at the orb again, letting her eyes linger on it long enough to provide Gibson a clue as to just how she brought Dragonfly back from the dead. "I knew I had to fix what I did. Live or die, I had to. I could never have come back to you, or Kinny, or anyone again if I hadn't. I'd really be a monster, and … Well. I'm babbling." She has to take another deep breath to steady herself, and goes on. "It was something I saw when I was studying the Temple's pictograms. Well not studying, but just noticing. It showed these Naga going into pools, and having all these things happening to them – like being healed. So, I went back. I found Dragonfly's body and took it to the pools, and, um … I jumped in. And, we sank. Just when I thought I was going to drown, something found me, and I was in a living being."

It dawns on Gibson what might have happened, and he nods slowly, taking a glance at the quiet green sphere, then down at the steelbound tome. "You found the Temple, the true one, not all the rock and stuff the Cinders above were in. Normally, I'd say bringing someone back to life was impossible, but… just from the tiny bit we've seen of what we're dealing with, I guess I can believe it." He fingers the book thoughtfully. "Well, obviously Dragonfly forgave you… she hasn't talked about what happened much, but she seems fine for all intents."

"She said she wouldn't tell anyone. She knows all about what happened. I told her everything, I felt she deserved to know my mistake and how she came back to life. She used to have dragonfly webbing on her wings, did you know that?" Lilac's face quirks in a joyless smile, and she shes her head. She breathes a sigh and keeps talking. "It was the Temple of Being, the real Temple. And, as I called out, it spoke to me. We talked for a while, and it told me about being, what it was, and where all its worshipers went. It told me that it could save Dragonfly, but it demanded a pact, a price. I was desperate, I was ready to agree to anything. It said I could give of my mind, of my flesh, or … of my flesh in another way." Lilac swallows, her face beginning to redden. Unable to stand Gibson's gaze, she crosses her arms on the table and puts her head down on them, hiding it. "I was so lonely, Gibson! All I could see was a lonely life, running from everyone, too monstrous to risk being around anyone. When it asked, I, I … I just didn't want to be alone."

Gibson's ears stand up now, swiveling forward, and his nose twitches in alarm. "Hey, it's alright Lilac. It's alright now, you're with friends and… and we got this thing put away for now. And if Dragonfly lost some tattoos, well… she can get more. And you've got that beast form under control, it seems like. You don't have to worry. Still, I don't understand. You agreed to a pact, then. What did the Temple demand?"

Lilac's ears flatten, and Gibson can hear her faint whine before she speaks. "I'm pregnant, Gibson. It wanted to carry itself beyond its prison, and I wanted Dragonfly alive. I, I didn't want to be alone. It seemed like the best choice at the time! Lose more, when I was going to lose so much, or have a baby. Someone to look after, someone who needed me. I wouldn't be alone, even if I was." Lilac's head shakes against her arms, followed by a sniffle. "Gods, Gibson, I was so guilty. I wasn't thinking straight, and even though I'm okay with it now, I still can't grasp it."

There's a long pause as Gibson just stares in shock. After a few seconds, he realizes the disconcerting effect that may have, and he tries to say something. "You… with… ?" he begins, but he can't seem to quite express anything. It takes a moment for him to get his bearings, and he leans close to Lilac, putting a hand on her arm again and squeezing lightly. "Lilac, I… first, I want you to know that I meant what I said, that you can say anything to me. I'm not a judgmental type, I'm just not." He sits back again. "So the Temple somehow… ? I guess if it… I mean, if it could bring someone back to life… " He looks a little overwhelmed, then shakes his head. "Did you talk to anyone else about it? I don't know if the doctor here would help. Sinai's Museum, the Curators would want to know. I think they could help you, would want to help you."

Though she doesn't look up, or even raise her head, Lilac does reach over and take Gibson's hand. "I feel like such a freak, even more than I was," she tells him, her voice strained. "I spoke to Kinny and Dragonfly, and the doctor, to make sure the baby is well. As far as she can tell, it is, which is a relief, especially now that the Temple has passed on. I guess, in a way, it still lives within me. But I'm not going to fail it like its last mother." And here, Lilac peeks enough to glare at the orb. "Are you sure the Curators should know? Won't they put me on display or something? Can they even protect that orb? Should anyone have one of these things?"

Gibson sighs. "I don't think anyone should have one of these things, no. I think Anisa's control over it is shaky, at best. But it's either us or the Cinders, so I choose us." The big buck stoops down to put his face in Lilac's field of vision… and he really has to bend down to do so. His expression is earnest and concerned. "And the Curators wouldn't do something like that. The Museum isn't a display museum, and it exists to help people, it's not just a collection. You've been… been effected by an artifact. They'll want to help you. And… " He looks momentarily pained, worrying his lip with his long incisors. "I'm sorry to suggest this, but… if your baby is… uh, of the Temple, it's going to be… we're going to be concerned with it. There's no telling what we could be dealing with. For your sake and for everyone's sake, we're going to want to take care of you."

The woman meets the buck's eyes, and sighs, nodding. "I, I see. It, um, makes sense, I suppose. It's not that I don't appreciate the help, but I couldn't stand if something bad happened – to you or my baby." The woman looks down, as if about to hide her head again, then inhales and sits up again. "And what's more, I can't just settle down somewhere and wait for it to be born. I have to go somewhere. I know where another orb rests."

Both of the Lapi's ears angle forward. "You do?! Wait… of course! We knew from the outset we'd have to be going to Sylvania at some point. I should've added it up… there's one somewhere in Sylvania, isn't there. What do you know about this?"

"I think it's what gave me my curse," Lilac answers, reaching up to tug at one of her fuzzy ears. "A woman titled The Raveness was in possession of it during the last Necromancer War, and she used to somehow hide her castle from the necromancer armies. You see Gibson, those dreams I've been having? The ones that told me how to get a hold of my curse? They also showed me the castle, and the Raveness, and, um, what the orb can do. It was awful, the Raveness seemed to sacrifice people to it, to keep the castle hidden. The leaders all seemed to be creatures like me! Even Kinny was in the dream, and she remembers it too. It's like we were reliving the memories of the dead Korv woman I told you about. Kinny even thinks that Korv might be me, somehow." Lilac shakes her head at that idea, not sure at all what to think about it. "Whatever the case, and looking at our orb, I think that orb changed me. I think it's nature is Void, like the histories we found suggest. It makes emptiness, and from it rises something else. I think that's where my beast comes from. It's from some nothing, deep in me. A void beast."

"Even the Temple of Being could feel something amiss in me. It couldn't understand its nature, but it knew it was there, and that it was what caused my transformation," Lilac adds.

Gibson runs a hand over the fur on his head. "I was going to ask if it was maybe just a nightmare. But you say Kin experienced the same thing?"

Lilac nods slowly. "Yes, she was definitely there. She tried to sacrifice herself instead of the townsfolk the Raveness normally used to empower the orb, but, um, I couldn't let her, because you know how reckless Kinny is! Kinny was dying in the dream, turning all pale and odd! So, well, I attacked the Raveness, and the dream ended. We both remembered what happened. Somehow, the Korv woman talks through my dreams," she explains. "I think she died doing the same thing I did in her memory-dream! Her throat is torn, and I know that wound now! The Seneschal killed her when she tried to stop the Raveness. And you know what's more? I think the castle is still there, still lurking beyond sight in that other place she put it."

The buck mulls this over. "Well… who knows for sure how accurate this is, not that I'm doubting you. But at the very least it can give us a hint at what we're going into. So if it's at the castle of this specific noble, do you think you could locate it? You were… are a bardess, you probably know all about the castles in Sylvania, don't you?"

"Were?" Lilac's ears shoot up. She looks about to argue, but pauses, frowning. "Well, I suppose I don't bard as much as I used to, what with all these wars, and artifacts, and exploding of airships. I'm not sure what to call myself, now." She shakes her head in dismay, and answers, "Oh, yes! The Raveness's castle figures into several tragic songs, which, and this is interesting often comment about how her 'heart was empty' in a way rather like how the materials we found suggest. Her castle is a ruin, but it's there. I think she's still there, too. That the castle is hiding behind the ruins, somehow. And, do you remember that Gallee man we met? The Whippet? He was attacked by something there."

Gibson holds his hands up placatingly. "Are! Are. I corrected myself. And yes, I remember the Whippet. I think he and several other men were attacked there, in fact. He kept babbling about a murder."

"Well, if the Korvs are still there in some fashion, then they may think they're still protecting their homes from the necromancers. Or, um," Lilac's expression darkens, her mouth creasing in a frown, ears wilting, " … or the orb took so much from them, then no longer are what they were. Maybe they forgot, like I forgot. It seems to feed on existence, especially people. Once they ran out, maybe it, um, ate them, until all they were, were creatures of nothingness, trapped in the void the castle hides in." The woman shudders at the idea, clutching Gibson's hand. "But, I must have been there, right? I was there somehow, and somehow I must have come into contact with that orb and its power. The Wippet wasn't like me, and he was there. They killed his friends, but they spared me, or, well, I don't know. I think I'll find my answer there, that much I'm sure."

The buck gives Lilac's hand a squeeze in return. "I think it's our best lead, and I'm pretty sure it's our next stop. We'll just prepare as best we can, and see what we can do. I'll pass that information on to Anisa, if you haven't already told her. The rest… " He hesitates. "The rest I'd like you to speak with the Curators about. Please."

"I told her when I, um. Well, girl talk," Lilac admits, smiling sheepishly. As for telling the Curators, she frowns a little, but nods. "I will, but you have to promise to be there with me. You also have to promise to let me help your research, because I've missed you! It wasn't easy staying away. You, you don't think I'm … too weird to … to love, do you?" The woman's ears swivel forward, focusing on the man.

Gibson nods resolutely. "I promise, on both counts. I don't think we could do this without you, in fact." He threads his fingers together, and rests his chin on his fists. "And no, I don't think you're too weird to love, not at all. I think I'm too weird to love, if that makes any sense."

Lilac's ears go askew in that typical canine way, her head tilting. "What? YOU? But you're so cute! You were there for me when I was in trouble, you're brave, and you're kind. You're most certainly lovable! But, I bet you mean because you can't settle. Well, neither can I. You don't have to feel like you have to stop traveling the world for me. I don't plan to stop traveling! I still want to bring my music to the world." She smiles a little, then leans over. "You're my lucky bunny!"

The buck laughs a little, eyes smiling at the compliment, and he reaches out to brush Lilac's cheek. "That's pretty much it exactly. I've never been attached. I don't know if I ever can be. Mom won't let me hear the end of it. Dad and Quinn think I'm irresponsible. Even my other brothers are kind of unsure what to make of it. Only Anisa's ever really understood. And I guess you too."

"We're wanderers at heart," Lilac says, leaning into the hand. "Doomed to travel the road, never able to settle! I was a wanderer even before I was cursed. I left my village to travel and play, and, well, you know how that went." She smiles all the more, then holds the bucks hand to her cheek with one of hers. "I'd offer to travel the world with you, to help the Curators, but I'd probably make an awful Curator. I, um, even thought Dragonfly was one, and mentioned, um, them to her. That's okay though, isn't it? She is a scholar, and won't they want to observe her? She's come back from the dead."

Gibson looks a little surprised, and clucks his tongue. "Lilac, you weren't supposed to tell anybody about Sinai's Museum. But, it's an honest mistake. Truth to tell, she's been helping us a lot, and really, after everything she saw, it's a little hard not to involve her. If the Museum can trust her, I wouldn't be surprised to find Tinsnip trying to woo her to the fold."

Lilac's ears wilt, but she nods in agreement. "Yes, I know. I've been under a lot of stress lately, but I know that's no excuse. I can even talk to her myself, if you want. I think she'd be a lot safer with the Curators, they can look after her and make sure her resurrection doesn't have any problems." The woman then scoots over a little, so as to get closer to Gibson. "I've also been thinking about what to do if, or when, we find that orb in the castle. I thought I'd want to get rid of my curse, but now, and I know this will sound odd, but … I'm a little afraid to. I'm even more afraid of some other truth that may lurk behind it all."

The Lapi gives Lilac a reassuring pat. "Don't worry too much. Like I said, I think a lot of the Khatta is already out of the bag, where Dragonfly is concerned. I'm sure Tinsnip will get it all sorted out. As for your curse, and these… " He gives the orb on the pedestal a sidelong glance. "… things, we can only speculate for now. There's no telling what's waiting for us in Sylvania, even if we have some idea from your dream. So let's just worry about it when we get there."

"I'm glad I have such wise friends, or who know where I'd be," Lilac admits. She leans back, then gives the orb another considering look. "You know, I've been thinking about the orbs. We know there's one of Being, and of Void. Dragonfly said something about one of Energy, I think. Do you know of any others? I can't help but think there's a pattern behind them, that somehow they all mean something. But, what?"

Gibson turns to study the dormant globe as well. "So far, we've translated enough to guess that there's Being, Void, and Energy, and I'm positive there's at least two others. I'm sure they have a related purpose."

"Being, Void, and Energy, and two others. You know, they sound sort of familiar on some level. Like, I've heard of them before." Lilac taps a finger to her lips, pursing them as she thinks. "And, they had a mage there, didn't they? The Raveness seemed to be some kind of mage, too. Being had Life, and, um, what would Void have? They can't be something as literal as the literal spheres of Magic."

The woman then blinks, looking to Gibson. "Um, can they?"

The black buck ponders this comparison. "Well, I'm not much of an authority on magic. I can sort of see what you're getting at, though. Being you could compare to Life, yeah… but there were references here to the mind being part of one's being too. I think there were even allusions to the 'intangible parts of a being'. I guess that could mean spirit. And Energy, that could encompass a whole lot of things."

"I'm not big on magic, either, but Sylvania has had so many mages, and as a bard it helps for me to know things, like magic spheres and such, if just to know what I'm talking about. Mages are big in many stories, being notable people," the bardess explains. "We'd have to find a book on magic to really compare them, and maybe one that talks about reality and the nature of things. It seems like these orbs all take a piece of what is, and sort of … control it. But, why? And how? Whoever made these must be … be incomprehensible."

Gibson nods gravely. "I've run into some very strange things in traveling, seen some things that the Curators put away for everyone's good. Someone or some… thing left an enormous footprint on this world, and we have only the dimmest understanding. I can't begin to imagine what they were like or how they did what they did. We're hard enough pressed to keep these bits and bobs out of the hands of people like Vandringar."

Lilac's head tilts, and she asks, "You mean, you've found other things, besides these orbs? Are they're this weird? This destructive?" The bardess's ears twitch at the idea. "It sounds like you have a whole vault of these things! How do you ever keep that safe?"

The black Lapi runs his fingers over his ears. "Whew. We've seen some doozies. Not all are like this, no. The Curators have various spots for safekeeping, and no one Curator knows where everything is."

"Well, that's good. I've been worried about what we're going to do with all these orbs, once we get them. Even if we hide them away, the Temple of Being taught me things like this exist far beyond the people who use them. We could toss them on the deepest oceans, but then I worry they'd move or corrupt the ocean or something. And believe me, Gibson, I have enough things to feel guilty about without being part of destroying an ocean," the human says. She scoots over closer to the orb, then perches her head on her hand as she stares at it. "Hmm."

Gibson shrugs his broad shoulders, looking helpless for all his size. "I really wish I could tell you what we were going to do, Lilac. The best I can guess is that we're going to play by its rules. They usually work along some rhyme or reason, however difficult it may be for us to understand." The green orb shines quietly as Lilac stares at it, for all the world like a polished lump of jade, showing her a distorted reflection of her face in its surface.

Lilac ponders her distorted reflection, and decides that the reflection describes her interaction with the orbs very well indeed. Hesitantly, she reaches out to poke the orb. "I wonder if we could just tell them to protect themselves. I mean, it can run around and fly, and it made the Temple of Being. Do you think if Anisa just told it to never let anyone near it again, it'd actually do it?"

Poking the orb reveals it to be much heavier than it looks in its minimal movement, solid and imposing, but it doesn't react in any way. Gibson shakes his head. "I don't think Anisa's control over it is that fine. Dagh, we're not even sure what kind of control over it she has. From the way she described it, it acted more like it had its own agenda and Anisa simply had some say in how it went about it."

Lilac frowns at the orb, leaning closer to peer at it. "What are you up to?" she asks it, not really expecting an answer. Leaning back, she tells Gibson, "I guess it can't be that simple, can it? I wonder what the orb of void is up to. Actually, that reminds me. In my dream, the Raveness didn't have one of those quirky amulets, but she seemed to have some control over the orb. Or, um, she fed it anyway. I wonder if she's a mage? And if so, what kind? The orb of being here, Hakuu brought a life mage to see it. In fact, it seemed like that mage had some idea of what he was doing with it. I mean, isn't turning Kinny into a whatever-it-was really specific?"

The buck folds his arms over his chest and leans back in his chair. "You make a good point. We still haven't questioned that mage yet. I was waiting until Umeko was available. She's had a lot of mess to clean up, poor gal." He shrugs again, his arms still crossed. "As for the Raveness, your guess is as good as mine. I'm not too well-versed in my Sylvanian heraldry, but she sounds very famous. I'd think there'd be a lot of information and history on her, and I'm puzzled it's all so murky."

"So am I," Lilac admits, looking back to Gibson. "She figures in a few tales, but there's not a lot of specifics about her, or what happened to her castle. Um, come to think of it, I can't remember any tales of her castle being destroyed – but there it is a ruin. Not that that's odd, lots of castles and villages were destroyed in Sylvania's necromancer wars. But, given what I know of these … ," she waves a hand at the orb, " … objects, I can't help but wonder if the orb of void maybe … blotted out her memory, too. Maybe it doesn't just eat people, but memories, even existence, and … OH!" She smacks her hand across the table, ears perking. "Maybe it does! I can't remember the castle, and I was surely there. The Whippet barely recalls it. You'd think necromancers would notice a castle they were besieging just suddenly wasn't there. I mean, you can't just make a castle vanish. It'd be like me hiding under those covers and then expecting you to not find me. That'd only work if you forgot I was there."

Gibson's brows pinch together. "Dagh, that's pretty scary to contemplate," he admits. "But it makes sense based on what you described. Didn't you say the Raveness seemed to have trouble remembering things as it was?"

"Yes, she seemed like she was figuratively and literally fading away. It seemed like she was waiting for her husband, whom she had to have known had passed on by then. She seemed to forget her purpose, she was just acting in a cycle without much thought. She looked hollow, and empty. She sounded hollow and empty," Lilac replies. Rubbing at her left ear, she nods. "The void orb seems to have the power to, well, void things. And, oh! She said she found it nearby, in, um … I think it was a mine or a field. So, there must be a ruin nearby, that the orb originally came form."

Gibson snaps his fingers. "A site they found the artifact in? That's good to know. Maybe something like what we found Being in. I wonder why they're so scattered like this." He rubs his arms as if chilled at the description of the Raveness.

After tilting her head, Lilac reaches over to pat Gibson's arm as she offers, "Maybe because what they do would conflict with the others? I mean, if you had void and being next to each other, wouldn't they … um, cancel each other out? Maybe they can't be in proximity to each other, or else they, um, well, explode or something. Like an airship."

After a brief pause, Lilac asks, "Do you think they all make avatars?"

The buck squints at this idea, and begins massaging his temples with his fingertips. "Guh. That brings a whole new question as to whether we should bring them together if we manage to get this other artifact. But I think we're getting ahead of ourselves anyway." He stops rubbing for a moment to tilt an ear toward Lilac. "Avatars?"

"You know, avatars. There always seems to be one person or being that manifests the orb more than anyone else. The Temple of Being was the Orb of Being's avatar. It was being, and being was all it cared about. From what I remember, I think the Orb of Void was using the Raveness as its avatar, only she was still … fading. If I gauged how old the dream-memory was, and if she still exists with it, then she'll … Well, she'll be a lot … voidier, now. It's like whatever interacts with them for prolonged periods becomes more like them, or something. They don't seem to do much themselves, they seem to empower others."

Gibson strokes his ears thoughtfully. "Weird. I dunno. Maybe? The orb didn't seem to really act through the Temple of Being. Just… set it in motion, I guess. Its 'mother'."

"That's true. Hmm." Lilac rubs at her own ears, copying Gibson. "I wonder who told it to make the Temple of Being, then? And the Orb of Being seemed to be up to something, even before it was, um, 'called' back from the Beast Lands. Now I wonder if the Orb of Void is or was also up to something, until the Raveness came and removed it. And if so, is there a … Temple of Void out there somewhere? This all hurts my head." She squints as she rubs, then glances at the orb again. "It would be so much easier if you could just talk. You talk to Anisa, why not us? Can't you just make a mouth or something? Can you even understand me? Do you have any idea what you're doing?"

Gibson looks on quietly as if expecting an answer, but the orb just rests silently on its pedestal, gleaming in the low light.

"If it's like the Temple of Being, it's probably bored with us," Lilac says with a sigh. "All the answers could be right here, if it'd just answer us. Stupid orb." She makes a face at the thing, which just reflects right back at her, prompting her to 'hmph.' Looking back to Gibson, she says, "I do know that all the Raveness's council seemed to be able to do what I can do, and that the woman who I dreamed I was could too. I wish she'd come back, I have a lot to ask her. But, I do wonder if the Orb of Void made us all what we are, and what that cost to do. And, why do I have that power?"

Gibson shrugs again, and tilts his chair back on two legs. "Only one way to find out now," he says, his expression grimly incongruous with his boyish features. "You can bet the Cinders aren't slowing down."

"Well, except for one of them being dead and all. I don't think Hakuu is doing anything quickly except rot." Lilac tries to laugh a little, but she can't quite manage to sound to cheerful about the fact. "So, um, can you tell me any more about the Cinders? Do they have a secret base somewhere, a vault full of weird artifacts? Who's their leader, and how'd they come to have Vandringer gallop around the world finding these things?"

The black buck wiggles his nose slowly and thoughtfully. "I guess I don't have to tell you they're pretty well heeled. They're a secretive bunch, we don't know much about them, just some idea of what they're capable of. Most of the upper echelons are nobles or other rich fellows promised a way to dominate. Even without counting their bizarre goals, they're so well connected that I bet a lot of nobles and merchants are in it just for those connections." He eases his chair back down to the floor. "There's definitely a cult there, though. Years ago, when sis and I first met them, we ran into their thugs. Fanatics. Right down to being altered with suicide… devices grafted into their necks." He shakes his head at the memory. "Vandringar's even more of an enigma. We've always had the impression there was a head to this cult, but if some figurehead is wearing the chief's hat, it's Vandringar who wears the pants. He seems to have a lot of control."

"I wish we did know more. It's difficult to plan for an enemy you know next to nothing about. If we could just find one of their meetings, or even one of their workshops, I could try and sneak in like I did with Hakuu's mansion, or the Temple. Just, no killing. I've discovered I'm really bad at picking who to attack." Lilac smiles weakly, looking a little pained. She glances at the orb again, then asks, "Gibson, do you think it's possible to fill voids up? If my dreams hold any truths, and my lack of memory is more truth, then there's some part of me that may be gone. And that part may be where the beast comes from. But, the beast isn't what it was. More and more, it seems like a part of who I am, rather than who I was forced to be. I think I'm almost … afraid to lose it now, even if it put blood on my lips." She sighs, then shakes her head. "Or, maybe I put the blood there, and the beast just spoke my mind with claws and fangs when I couldn't."

The Lapi shakes his head. "I can't answer any of that, Lilac, it's far beyond my ken. But I know what you're like now. You're determined, and I think you're stronger than you believe. Look ahead, sure, but live in the now. We'll take it a step at a time."

"Then … " And here Lilac leans forward, ears rotating towards the buck. "Do you think it's not … weird … that I spent um, two … hours this morning play with a stick?" Quickly, the woman adds, "It seemed very interesting at the time! And then I chased some kind of bug, before taking a nap – all of this in my other form, of course! Is that weird?!"

This finally gets a laugh out of Gibson, a certain tension breaking away. "Lilac, after everything we've seen, nothing seems weird anymore."

"Oh, whew," Lilac says, breathing a sigh of relief. "I just wonder if I'm losing my humanity, but, um … animalality seems like so much fun, some times. I can smell everything, and I had two hours of fun with a stick. A stick! I just hope you don't mind dating – are we dating? I've never really dated before – someone who may be more, or less, than human."

Gibson leans forward to prop his chin on his hand and push the knife marking his place off the tome with the other. "Sinai's a big place, Lilac. It's full of all kinds of different people. I've met a lot more than most, so I think I can say with some confidence that your civility is fine. Personally, I think you're a lot more civilized and conscientious than lots of people who're considered to be from bastions of civilization. The Naga can be pretty cold, and you don't even want to know what they do to criminals in Babel."

"I don't, you're right!" Lilac nods rapidly to that; she's had enough of horrible things happening to random people. She then scoots over towards Gibson, and reaches down to try and rub his foot. "Lucky feet – forgot to do this!" She then grins up at him. "And you mentioned Naga, do you know what the Emperor is like? Do you think he'll just forget we exist, or will want to meet us?"

The toes of a big rabbitty foot get wiggled, and their owner smiles wryly. "Most things are pretty well below the notice of the the Emperor of Nagai. Personally, I'm very much willing to stay there, and I think my sis is too, double for Xander. I'm guessing Kin will represent us, and that suits me fine. Though now that you mention it, Lt. Dasha wanted to talk to Anisa. Pass that along if you see her." Gibson stoops forward to give Lilac's head a stroke, putting his fingers through her dark hair. "As for what he's like, I can only pass on general knowledge. He's very secure in the importance of the Naga and their culture, but he's also very cagey. He is also very large."

Lilac leans into the petting, eyes half-closing. She scoots up to sit at Gibson's feet. "I bet he's not larger than the Temple of Being. Nothing will seem big after it," the woman insists. She then smiles a little, and nods, "But, you're right. I'll be happy if he forgets we exist, as much as I want to be recognized by an Emperor. I mean, what bard doesn't want royal attention? Still, there are plenty of stories about people who got that attention, and it went badly for them. I even heard a story in Naga of some warrior who got eaten because he got a boon from the Emperor and said he wanted to be Emperor. Scary."

Gibson nods thoughtfully, gently rubbing his fingers along the top of Lilac's head. "Big or small, he's not an individual to be trifled with. If Umeko can get us out of here more or less unscathed, I'll be both relieved and grateful."

"Me, too. I admit, I'd like to see the Imperial Palace or … pyramid or whatever the Emperor stays in, if just to say I've been there, but nobles seem to always be full of catches and secret agendas. Just look at Hakuu, Vandringer, and the Raveness. None of them are simple or safe." She tilts her head slightly, then asks, "Can you do that ear thing, for me? The one Lapi do, the ear rubbing? My ears are pretty sensitive too, and they're sore from sand and noise."

The Lapi obligingly shifts his touch the the bases of Lilac's ears, kneading the many muscles that let those cones swivel around. "Well, I understand Kin will have to attend a summons in a week, after the affairs of Viper's Hold are straightened out. Personally, I want to worm out of going if I can manage it, I've got too much to do. But if you really wanted to, I'm sure you could attend with Kin."

"Maaaaybe I will," Lilac says, sounding distracted. Her mouth parts slightly, and it looks like she might loll her tongue, but never quite does. "Mmm. I hope those commandos are okay. And, um … What was I going to say? Oh, I don't know. I think I just want to sit here a while, beside you. And, um, get my ears rubbed."